The Consul General at Berlin
(Messersmith) to the Under Secretary of State (Phillips)

[Extracts]

BERLIN, June 26, 1933.

DEAR MR. PHILLIPS:

I think the Department must be exceedingly
careful in its dealings with Germany as long as the present Government is in
power as it has no spokesman who can really be depended upon, and those who
hold the highest positions are capable of actions which really outlaw them from
ordinary intercourse.

I think we must recognize that while the
Germany of to-day wants peace, it is by no means a peaceful country or one
looking forward to a long period of peace. The present German Government and
its adherents desire peace ardently for the present because they need peace to
carry through the changes in Germany which they

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want to bring about. What they want to do, however, definitely is to make
Germany the most capable instrument of war that there has ever existed. The
Minister of Education, speaking yesterday, said that a Spartan spirit must be
developed among the German youth. Wherever one goes in Germany one sees people
drilling, from children of five and six on, up to those well into middle age. A
psychology is being developed that the whole world is against Germany and that
it lies defenseless before the world. People are being trained against gas
attacks, against airplane attacks, and the idea of war and danger from one's
neighbors is constantly harped upon. I wish it were really possible to make our
people at home understand, for I feel that they should understand it, how
definitely this martial spirit is being developed in Germany. If this
Government remains in power for another year and carries on in the same measure
in this direction, it will go far towards making Germany a danger to world
peace for years to come.

This is a very disjointed and incoherent
letter. I am dictating it under pressure as I wish to catch the courier pouch.
What I do want to say really is that for the present this country is headed in
directions which can only carry ruin to it and will create a situation here
dangerous to world peace. With few exceptions, the men who are running this
Government are of a mentality that you and I cannot understand. Some of them
are psychopathic cases and would ordinarily be receiving treatment somewhere.
Others are exalted and in a frame of mind that knows no reason. The majority
are woefully ignorant and unprepared for the tasks which they have to carry
through every day. Those men in the party and in responsible positions who are
really worth-while, and there are quite a number of these, are powerless
because they have to follow the orders of superiors who are suffering from the
abnormal psychology prevailing in the country. It is impossible for us to talk
about tariffs or monetary policy or any of these major matters with a Germany
whose leaders do not think in any sense along the lines that we do. While their
representatives are talking at London and seem to be just like everybody else,
the most phantastic experiments on financial or economic lines are being
definitely considered in their home country. Dr. Luther may talk bravely and
fairly about Germany in the United States, but he can't tell what he knows, and
even if he would, there is a great deal that he does not know. There is a real
revolution here and a dangerous situation.